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| Vision: The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources will actively help Hawaii diversify its economy, ensure a sustainable environment, and strengthen its communities, and will be the premier resource for tropical agricultural systems and environmental resource management in the Asia-Pacific region. Mission: The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources is committed to the preparation of students and all citizens of Hawaii for life in the global community through research and educational programs supporting tropical agricultural systems that foster viable communities, a diversified economy, and a healthy environment. Core Values: The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources values learning, discovery, and engagement in formal and informal settings and strives for excellence in all it endeavors. Our interactions with others are characterized by outstanding service and an attitude of respect, honesty, and integrity. Strategic Initiatives: |
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FOREWORD
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| In 1996, the administration, faculty, and staff of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources began the difficult work of creating a strategic plan that would encompass the most sweeping changes ever undertaken by any unit in the University of Hawaii system. The five-year plan went into effect in 1999. It is appropriate now, a bit more than half way through the duration of the plan, to assess where the college stands in implementing the goals and objectives it set for itself. This progress report demonstrates that CTAHR has accomplished a great deal, and that a great deal remains to be done. To make this assessment, input was solicited from all CTAHR faculty and staff. A draft of the progress report was made available on the college’s Web site, and everyone was invited to contribute. What is written here incorporates the input of several individuals from throughout the college’s departments and counties. Only two major amendments have been made to the strategic plan: the college’s mission statement was expanded and a statement of the college’s core values was added. This report is organized around the three strategic initiatives articulated in the strategic plan. The vision statement, mission statement, core values and strategic initiatives are restated above. It must be emphasized that a printed progress report is static documentation of a dynamic process. This report is accurate only for the month in which it is published. Progress toward CTAHR’s goals and objectives is being made almost daily. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to take a look at how far we have come—and how far we have to go. |
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVE 1:
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Goal 1. Restructure academic and non-academic programs
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| Objective 1: Create new, restructured departments that will develop critically needed and relevant undergraduate and graduate degrees, research opportunities, and outreach activities. In January of 2000, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents officially approved the merger of CTAHR’s eleven departments into six new ones. At the close of the spring 2000 semester, the college instituted this change with faculty and staff becoming officially affiliated with their new departments. Some roles remained the same, but there were also a considerable number of changes, ranging from the consolidation of responsibilities, to program revisions, to taking on new challenges. Also, many intra-college physical moves took place to position people closer to one another to enable greater collaboration between newly partnered professionals in instruction, research, and extension endeavors. In November 2000, CTAHR presented its academic program organization plan to the University of Hawaii system for approval. In June of 2001, nine new and/or revised undergraduate bachelor of science degree programs (Animal Sciences, Apparel Product Design and Merchandising, Bioengineering, Family Resources, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Plant and Environmental Biotechnology, Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, and Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences), nine master of science programs (Animal Sciences, Food Science, Nutritional Sciences, Bioengineering, Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, and Natural Resources and Environmental Management), and five Ph.D. programs (Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, and Natural Resources and Environmental Management) were approved by the Board of Regents. Objective 2: Seek administrative and departmental support staff input to assist in the development of the new departments. Reorganization into six new departments was the culmination of three years of planning that went into the creation of the CTAHR Strategic Plan for 1999-2004. A 21-member steering committee met regularly with faculty and staff to assist in determining the new departments which today include: Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS), Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences (HNFAS), Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering (MBBE), Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM), Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences (PEPS), and Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences (TPSS). Objective 3: Identify and support a task force of CTAHR faculty who have a passion for learning and teaching and are committed to developing learner-centered environments. This community of scholars will provide leadership for enhancing the learning/teaching/research environment within CTAHR. Presently, no specific task force exists. Instead, the entire college faculty has put tremendous energy into reorganizing its academic programs to prepare its graduates for the challenges of the new millennium. They have created new and revised programs; developed assessment tools to evaluate these programs and focus on excellence, presented a national teaching symposium to share the college’s own successes as well as learn from peers in other land-grant colleges; set up special student learning environments within each department; and continued the tradition of featuring student work through special events and programs. Developing learner-centered environments is everybody’s responsibility and will continue to be a college-wide thrust. Objective 4: Develop distance delivery capacity to meet the needs of learners in Hawaii, the Pacific, Asia, and beyond. CTAHR’s extension arm, to this date, has had the greatest focus on distance learning through videoconferencing. On-line courses are offered by CTAHR faculty, but minimally at present. More interest is being generated in this area in instruction, but it was necessary to get programs and their respective courses in place before delivering courses through this medium. Distance learning is being considered by the college as a means of providing programs statewide and to make the most efficient use of our faculty resources. There is a growing demand for this type of instruction. CTAHR will respond as we are able. CTAHR administration is presently working along with the Department of Information and Computer Sciences and other leaders in the UH system to develop the most efficient and effective ways to utilize distance learning and maximize its benefits to various types of learners. Videoconferencing capabilities are also being expanded to link major CTAHR sites statewide and increase distance leaning capabilities for both formal and nonformal programs and activities. The college’s Agricultural Development in the American Pacific program has made innovative, cost-efficient use of videoconferencing technology to link the five land-grant institutions of the American Pacific: CTAHR, University of Guam, College of Micronesia, American Samoa Community College, and Northern Marianas College. At an annual meeting in April 2002, the national administrator of CSREES and the director of the Farm Services Agency were able, from Honolulu, to speak to all five sites simultaneously. |
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Goal 2. Recruit and retain students
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| Objective 5: Initiate a program to increase the college’s overall undergraduate enrollment, with a goal of a 100 percent increase between 1999 and 2004. Between the years of 1982 and 1993, CTAHR undergraduate enrollment decreased from 804 to an all-time low of 367. It then steadily, but slowly increased through the fall of 1999 to 483 students. In the fall of 2000 the number decreased to 468 and in the fall of 2001 to 425. Although the strategic plan called for an increase in number of undergraduate students, the transitional stages involved in departmental and academic reorganization have had an effect on program stability and thus the recruitment of students. It took until summer of 2001 for all new and revised undergraduate programs to be approved and ready to be advertised for new student enrollment. The stage is now set to bring students in. CTAHR has been selected as a model college for student recruitment for UH Manoa, along with three other colleges. To this end, we work directly with a consultant and share what we are doing, as well as participate in university-wide activities to increase enrollment. CTAHR has produced nine new undergraduate program brochures, as well as created a new Web site to attract more students. We have also instituted a Student Ambassadors Program, a student-to-student recruitment effort. We are focusing on reaching perspective students through their counselors, the Web, and other UH students, all considered the best ways to reach high school and community college students. Student enrollment is projected to increase slowly at first and then to pick up as students become aware of CTAHR’s new programs. The number of graduate students, which has declined not just locally but also nationally during the last ten years, has been increasing since the spring of 2000. CTAHR had 240 graduate students in the fall of 1982. This number steadily dropped to a low of 116 in spring of 1998. Presently, CTAHR’s graduate student number is up to 143, an encouraging increase. Also, inquiries continue to come in from potential graduate students as UH Manoa and CTAHR’s excellent reputation become more widely known. Objective 6: Structure CTAHR class availability so that students will be assured of graduating within four successful, consecutive years of enrollment, beginning with the undergraduate class enrolling in fall 1999. Departments are conscious of the need to schedule classes on a regular basis to enable students to graduate within a four-year period. We are in the process of sending the college’s schedule of classes to all chairs and academic advisors to minimize or eliminate conflicts between classes needed by students in multiple departments and programs. UH-Manoa as a whole is also working on ways of reducing class scheduling conflicts and shortages to ensure graduation within a four-year period. Objective 7: Assist students and graduates in career development, graduate school placement, and post-graduate learning. To facilitate this objective, designate a college coordinator of student internships, career planning and placement, and alumni relations. CTAHR has not yet put a college coordinator for student internships, career planning and placement, and alumni relations in place. However, the associate dean for academic and student affairs and the student services specialist presently handle these duties. A position for a director of college relations who would take a leadership role in alumni relations has been proposed and sent to UH administration for approval. This position will also be responsible for marketing and fund development programs for the college. (See also Objective 11.) |
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Goal 3. Restructure administration and staff
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| Objective 8: Structure college administration to lead by example, provide maximum opportunity for faculty and staff to exercise leadership, and share responsibilities and rewards. The new CTAHR administration has placed a major focus on empowering those in leadership positions within the college. College monies have been made available to all through an RFP process and disseminated as determined by a faculty/administrative committee. This process has shifted responsibilities and rewards to the departmental and county levels. Continuing discussions include developing strategies to further empower department chairs and county administrators as well as shifting responsibilities to levels at which they are most effective. This was a major theme of the college-wide conference held May 9, 2002. Objective 9: Eliminate the HITAHR structure, replacing it with an associate dean/associate director for research and an associate dean/associate director for Cooperative Extension and expand the responsibility of the associate dean of academic affairs to include both academic and student affairs. This objective has been met. The present administrative structure includes an associate dean/associate director for research, an associate dean/associate director for Cooperative Extension, and an associate dean for academic and student affairs. The HITAHR structure has been eliminated. |
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Goal 4. Strengthen alliances
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| Objective 10: Integrate the agricultural, environmental, natural, and human ecology educational system in Hawaii, involving other schools at UH-Manoa, the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and UH’s community colleges. CTAHR’s faculty and staff, through numerous college programs, collaborate and work closely with many other academic and research units on the UH-Manoa campus. New collaborations are underway to establish inter-campus programs between CTAHR and UH Hilo’s College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management (CAFNRM) and Maui Community College. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) grant funds have been secured to promote cooperative research and outreach between UH-Hilo’s CAFNRM, USDA-ARS’s Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, and CTAHR. CTAHR and the UH College of Education have recently received approval of a joint early childhood education program. One of our researchers, Dr. Rachel Novotny, teaches and conducts research in the Disaster Management Humanitarian Assistance program, which is part of the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace in the College of Arts and Sciences. Objective 11: Hire a college development officer to initiate and implement a “giving campaign,” coordinating with the UH Foundation, UH Alumni Association, CTAHR Alumni Association, and the dean. The UH Foundation has recently assigned Kelvin Shoji to serve as the development officer for CTAHR. His responsibilities include fundraising, development and leadership for alumni relations, and the establishment of fund development programs. |
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVE 2:
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Goal 5. Create economic opportunities for Hawai‘i
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| Objective 12: Develop procedures, similar to the CTAHR Industry Analysis process, to identify needs and priorities for future research and allow clients to provide leadership and to partner in costs. We have conducted initiatives that integrate stakeholders’ input to identify needs and priorities for future research. A statewide public opinion survey (with 676 telephone interview responses) was conducted between August and September 2001 to quantify the importance of issues such as agriculture, health/nutrition, community leadership, environment, and GMOs. This information will be disseminated to faculty and stakeholders to help in the prioritization of research agenda. To obtain and distribute state research funds, our extension specialists and agents work closely with commodity associations to prioritize and review proposals before they are submitted to the state. For federal non-formula funds, the proposal review committee consists of industry and partner agency representatives. The dean has been meeting with counties, commodity, and food processing and manufacturing groups as to the needs of the industries and to partner in costs. This year Maui County committed $80,000 to CTAHR programs. Objective 13 : Encourage the development of interdisciplinary, intercollegiate, interagency, and regional research/learning/outreach teams (e.g., with Hawai‘i Agriculture Research Center) so that CTAHR is able to respond rapidly to critical State needs and emerging opportunities. This past year the college approved the hiring of 17 faculty positions of which eight are new. In addition, the college is converting the interim county administrator and assistant director for research positions to permanent positions. The college added an additional half-time county administrator position for Kauai, which is normally covered by the person who is administrator for Oahu County. A competitive, integrated Hatch program was initiated this year in CTAHR. Eleven proposals were approved. In addition, CTAHR faculty submitted 10 proposals for the USDA/IFAFS grant program, which emphasizes multi-disciplinary, multi-function, and multi-state research. None of the proposals was successful. We are encouraging resubmission by providing grant writing assistance. In cooperation with the Kapiolani Clinical Research Center, part of Kapiolani Medical Center, two projects are being conducted to assess calcium needs. These projects are part of a $600,000 subcontract on an IFAFS grant to Purdue University. The CTAHR Web site is being developed in part to make all faculty and staff aware of current research, outreach, and instruction efforts. It includes posting of the Annual Reports to CSREES. The Publications and Information Office is providing new feature stories of current activities on the CTAHR Web page every two weeks. A CTAHR in Action site has been developed to highlight current events and media coverage of CTAHR. A UH Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research proposal was submitted in FY 2001. It was not funded and will be submitted again this year. A major component of the proposal is to enhance plant biotechnology capacity. Dr. Robert Paull, chair of CTAHR’s Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, led this initiative. Objective 14 : Establish the necessary infrastructure (buildings, equipment, and support positions) to support the College’s research effort. Discussions are ongoing between the dean and UH administrators to find ways to realign base fund allocation between personnel and operations. Ag Science III, CTAHR’s new laboratory and classroom building, was completed. Equipment is being obtained from various granting agencies such as DOA, IFAFS, and USDA/NRI. Last year two equipment grants from NRI were successfully obtained. Last year the college initiated a CTAHR Special Grants Program in the amount of $1.5 million using federal formula funds and the college’s funds. Over $900,000 was allocated to support the existing research-teaching infrastructure. A list of equipment to conduct biotechnology research has been compiled. An inventory of equipment on research stations and its expected remaining useful life has also been collected. In the coming year, a schedule for upgrades and repairs will be developed. Research stations have been surveyed regarding performance, resources, and needs; a priority list will be developed from these results. Objective 15 : Initiate consolidation of existing off-campus facilities, establishing high-quality, multi-purpose research/learning/outreach centers in conjunction with UH community colleges, where appropriate. An updated report on experiment stations (December 5, 2000), available on the Web site, identifies actions on facilities. Currently, the associate dean and associate director for research is following up with site visits as recommended in the report. Appropriate recommendations will be forthcoming. The college has identified three themes around which its priorities are to be set: (1) revitalizing the state economy; (2) enhancing/sustaining Hawaii’s natural resources and environment; and (3) strengthening the state’s communities. These three themes have been used in the prioritization of projects funded through the CTAHR special grants program, McIntire-Stennis program, and Hatch grants program. Discussions are ongoing to develop closer working relationships with appropriate organizations, producers and processors, making them active partners. For example, a board of advisors has been created that comprises leaders from the stakeholder community, and we are working to facilitate conversations with major land owners on the use of their holdings. In 2001, the Legislature passed HB1287, which supplemented funding of the CTAHR budget with an additional $500,000 per year for a 2-year period. Objective 16 : Develop infrastructure so clientele, including counties, producers, and processors, can participate in setting priorities for and funding of research and learning opportunities and commodity-specific personnel. Discussions with counties are ongoing. Maui County provided $80,000 in 2001 toward CTAHR programs. Hawaii County, although sympathetic with the notion of sharing costs, is unable to do so because of serious budget constraints. Discussions are ongoing to develop closer working relationships with all producers and processors, making them active partners. (See Objective 15.) CTAHR faculty are involved with a number of industry groups: cattlemen, macadamia, coffee, papaya, banana, kava, agtourism, nursery, pineapple, flowers, swine, dairy, tropical fruits and vegetables, taro, etc. Faculty have attended, and helped organize meetings in all of the above industries. Public hearings toward development of the "fee for service" concept were held with the coffee and protea industries in the last year. Objective 17 : Bolster the capabilities of the College to engage in fundamental research, including the development of a pool of short-term postdoctoral positions that will allow for the infusion of information on emerging technologies and their attendant techniques. Grant-writing workshops were conducted in May (about 30 participants) and October (about 50) 2001. CTAHR’s annual Student Research Symposium provides travel awards to outstanding students participating in the event. A CTAHR researcher, Dr. Rachel Novotny, is a nutrition faculty member of a new Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Control, a project of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. The program begins in fall 2002 and is designed to prepare scientists to become independent investigators. |
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Goal 6. Improve access to international resources, especially in the Asia-Pacific region
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| Objective 18: Develop an exchange and visiting scholars program in the areas of learning, research, and outreach. The CTAHR Hatch, Smith-Lever, McIntire-Stennis, and T-Star proposals include funds for faculty to attend international workshops and conferences. In the fall of 2000, administrators and staff representing all units at UH-Manoa with international emphases and affiliations formed an International Education Committee. Recently, this committee has been renamed the Manoa International Education Committee to more specifically focus on Manoa’s international concerns. A representative from this committee will work directly with the systemwide senior advisor for international affairs. Several subcommittees have been formed. CTAHR’s representative serves on the subcommittee that deals with the experience of international students/ scholars at UH-Manoa; that individual also participates in discussions pertaining to all other areas. The college also has had representation on the UH Study-Abroad Council. The development of exchange programs is ongoing. Objective 19 : Strengthen existing, relevant international agreements and enter into new ones where appropriate. A list of current memoranda is attached to this update as Appendix 1. CTAHR is developing a new certificate program in agribusiness management to fill the business and management voids for undergraduate students in the technical fields of agriculture. In addition, the proposed program will serve undergraduate business and economics students who want to concentrate in agriculture or agriculture-related products and services. The expected launching date of this certificate will be in the fall of 2002. The program will consist of courses concentrating on the applications of business, management, and economic principles to agribusinesses. In conjunction with UH CIBER and CBA, UH CTAHR would develop a couple of courses to expand the international dimension of the proposed program. These courses will cover the managerial, financial, and marketing issues in global agribusiness operations and international trade. The cooperation between CBA and CTAHR will also allow the streamlining of the proposed program in, for example, cross-listing of courses, possible coordination of some of the courses, and expanding the list of elective courses. The longer term vision of this certificate program is to offer similar programs of shorter duration for food and agribusiness firms, so as to enhance their competitiveness in the global marketplace. This may be in the form of training seminars or workshops with a full coverage or selected emerging topics of interest. It is also envisioned that a graduate-level agribusiness management focused-MBA will subsequently be developed jointly by CTAHR and CBA. The longer term outcome of the cooperation will be the establishment of a center for international agribusiness which will house all the instructional and outreach activities mentioned above as well as serve as the coordinating unit for research in international agribusiness. Additionally, through CTAHR’s participation in the Manoa International Education Committee, CTAHR faculty, staff, and students highlighted their international research and collaborations on November 14, 2000, at UH-Manoa’s first International Education Week Fair. CTAHR provided close to one-third of all exhibits, emphasizing the extent of our international activities. |
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STRATEGIC INITIATIVE 3:
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Goal 7. Improve information exchange
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| Objective 20: Develop closer partnerships with client organizations that will identify needs and priorities and allow clients to provide leadership and to partner on costs. CTAHR has traditionally partnered with the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation to serve the needs of Hawai'i’s farm communities statewide. It has also partnered with county economic development boards to identify and prioritize needs at the county level. These partnerships have resulted in strengthening our ability to disseminate information to clientele via the Internet, to provide an educational program on papaya culture and variety selection, to train displaced sugar workers, to help sustain Maui’s agriculture, and to work together on promotional events such as county and trade fairs. At the present time, CTAHR is working actively with the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation to develop a strategic plan for Hawaii’s agriculture. College representatives are also engaged in facilitating discussions between private landowners and agribusiness representatives for the purpose of arriving at areas of agreement on which new statewide agricultural land use policies can be based. CTAHR Extension agents and specialists are routinely involved with commodity groups, helping them establish legislative programs and providing a liaison between the groups and the college. Underway currently is a program to survey consumers for the state’s beef industry. Cattlemen’s associations on Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island have allocated funds so that CTAHR agents can conduct the survey. The results will be used by the associations to guide them as they come to a decision on whether to build a slaughterhouse. In another example, a CTAHR agent heads the Federal Floriculture Research Grant Committee. He works with representatives of seven commodity groups to identify research needs and keep the college informed so that grant money goes where it will be best used. In addition, there are many on-going partnerships, such as the Agriculture Leadership Foundation that supports effective leaders in the agricultural industry and rural communities through a multi-disciplinary leadership training program. This program was designed to expand participants’ access to resources, build confidence, enhance leadership skills and broaden the participant's perspective of statewide agriculture and shared common problems. The Center on the Family is aligned with many public or nonprofit organizations or programs whose aim is to ensure that all of Hawai'i’s children will be safe, healthy and ready to succeed in school. Research and outreach projects focus on: economic strain and families, family resilience and the healthy development of children, the consequences of parental childrearing beliefs and practices, and early childhood educational activities monitoring the well-being of families and children in Hawai'i. Cost-sharing at the county level is still relatively limited and is generally provided as a grant for specific projects, such as those mentioned above. Objective 21: Enhance communication within CTAHR and between CTAHR and stakeholders. Unlike other UH colleges, CTAHR has faculty and staff throughout the Islands, thereby creating a need to develop an effective means of communicating within the college and with the college’s stakeholders. The biweekly "Dean’s Notes" (an electronic newsletter) is very effective in keeping faculty and staff aware of on-going activities, up-coming events, personnel issues, and legislative matters. Dean’s Notes is increasingly being distributed outside the college. The toll-free Consumer Food and Nutrition Help Line provides individuals and agencies with information on food safety, local fruits and vegetables, and general nutrition guidelines through a telephone and Web-based response system. "Ask the Experts" is an Internet-accessible database of questions and answers in CTAHR’s areas of expertise that can be searched by crop or key word on topics such as plants, farming, gardening, and more. We now have the capability to do video conferencing between Hilo and Honolulu and expect to have Lihue and Maui on-line by the end of this year. Kona and Molokai still lack telecon lines with adequate transfer rates. That will come. This capability allows statewide meetings and educational programs for industry and community groups. Through a greatly revised and expanded Web site (http://www.ctahr.hawaii. edu/ctahr2001/), CTAHR publications are being made directly accessible to users. Most of the shorter publications are in Portable Document Format (PDF) allowing quick downloading. Video clips and some of our newsletters, such as the Pesticide Label, are also available on the Web. A new Board of Advisors was created and held its first meeting in November 2001. Two meetings have been held since then. The board comprises CTAHR’s major stakeholders. Its purpose is to guide the strategic directions of the college. Its members include:
Objective 22: |
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